“Godzilla” director Gareth Edwards will helm the first of the upcoming series of standalone films set in the “Star Wars” universe, set for release Dec. 16, 2016.

Lucasfilm announced Edwards’ selection Thursday in a statement, which also revealed that Gary Whitta (“The Book of Eli,” Telltale Games’ adaptation of “The Walking Dead”) will pen the script.

The new film will explore territory beyond the core saga, but details for now are being kept under wraps.

Edwards’ Hollywood ascendancy has been remarkable. “Godzilla,” which stomped into the multiplex to record-setting grosses this month, was only his second film — his first, 2010’s “Monsters,” he wrote and directed himself and paid for partly with his own savings. But he aspired to give the big-budget movie the same poignancy as the crowd-pleasing sci-fi cinema that initially inspired him, the late 1970s and early 1980s films directed by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron.

“When you look at a film, there’s certain key emotions you’re going to provoke and feelings you’re going to try to create for the audience,” Edwards said in an interview with Hero Complex at the end of April. “I’m always looking for where’s the bit where they might tear up — even if it’s not tearing up in a sad way, just that you’re so much in awe of what you’re looking at that you get goose bumps and you start to well up. ‘Close Encounters [of the Third Kind]’ does that for me.”

It’s been a busy time in the “Star Wars” universe. J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII,” which will arrive in theaters Dec. 18, 2015, officially went into production this month, with a cast that includes Adam Driver, best known for his role in HBO’s “Girls,” and Oscar Isaac, who won considerable acclaim for his turn in the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” as well as John Boyega, known for his work in the fan favorite film “Attack the Block,” and newcomer Daisy Ridley.